Material handling apparatus



Oct. 11, 1932. w. M, VENABLE MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Filed 1926 2 sheets-sheet 1 ATTORNEYS Oct. 11, 1932. w. M. VENABLE MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Filed 1926 '2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IINVENTOR Fm ATTORNEY6 Patented Oct. 11, 1932 UNITED STATES PATs roFFioi: I

' WILLIAM MAYO VENABLE,- or PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO BL W- KNOX COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, rEnNsYLvA'NImA CORPORATION on NEW JERSEY MATERIAL HANDLING" APPARATUS Application filed December 8, 1926. Serial No. 153,303.

This invention relates to material handling apparatus, and more particularly to'apparatus for the measurement, conveyance and dumping of materials.

It is especially useful in connection with the handling of materials for mixing concrete and the like, and may be used in measuring and handling the sand, the stone, or other ingredients. It is, as will further appear, well adapted for use either where the material is dry or where it is wet, and in connection with the handling of the sand it is suited to the measurement of the same by the inundation method, i. e., the method wherein the sand and water for a concrete mix are measured together, the sand being completely saturated.

In mixing concrete, on the field, it is usually necessary to wheel the material from the stock pile t0 the mixer, and wheelbarrows are ordinarily used for this purpose, the material being dumped into the charging hopper of the mixer. Where such handling 5 is employed, the measurement of the mate- 2 rials is subject to great inaccuracies. I aim, therefore, by my invention, to overcome such disadvantages, to provide for accurate measurement of the materials and the most convenient handling thereof. i Another object of the invention is to provide a measuring, conveying and dumping apparatus or buggy to accomplish these ends, which is of rugged construction, and, at the same time, easily handled, and which is capable of ready volumetric adjustment.

How the foregoing, and other advantages which will occur to those skilled in the art, or which are incident to my invention, are

obtained, will be clear from the following a two-wheeled buggy having wheels 2, a frame 3, 3, 4:, a handle 5, and a container or measuring receptacle 6.

, The ends ,7, 7, of the frame member 4 are bent downwardly to form a stop or rest to take the shock of dumping, as shown in Fig. 3, and a flanged foot or base 8 may be attached to, or. formed integral with, each end to provide a more solid foundation to take such shock. The two frame members 3 form tracks or runways to receive the wheels 10 of the container 6, and the forward ends 9 of said'fra'me members arecurved upwardly to limit the movement of the container when it is dumped '(as shown in Fig. 3) while the rear ends 11 thereof curve up to meet the frame member 4 and position the container (as in Fig. 4)- for loading. The frame as a whole is stiffened, and the track strengthened, as against the weight of the load, and the thrust when register properly with the holes 16 in the track. It willbe clear (particularly from "Fig. .4) 'that'the .wheels 10 need be equipped withsuch spurs only upon suchportion of their periphery as makes contact with the flat portion of the track, and that the end spurs 15a may be of hook-like contour to prevent dislodgement of either extreme of its rotation.

The container itself is variable as to voltime, by means of a sectional upper portion 17 clamped together, as by bolts 18, and adjustthe container at 'abl'e longitudinally by the bolts 19 and nuts 19a. A. gasket or piece of rubber tubing '20 may be clamped between the container proper and the movable upper part to make a watertight joint. At the top of the container an overflow spout or lip 21 is pr0vided,'for use when measuring lnundated sand, and a screen '22 to break up or exclude lumpymaterial,

the screen being pivoted at 23 so that, when tainer, while thehooked spurs 15a prevent the device is in dumping position (as shown in Fig. 3) the screen will swing out of the way of the material.

The buggy is strengthened by suitable cross members 2a, 25 and 26, the bracing member 26 tying together the rear feet or supports 27. The latter, for convenience in wheeling the device, are short of the ground line when the tank or container is upright (as shown in Figs. land a) and convenient means, the buggy is at rest and being loaded. 7

From the foregoing description it will be clear that in operation the buggy is charged while in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 4:, with the container properly adjusted for volume and the top thereof level. If gravel or other coarse material is being measured, the screen may be used to grade it. If sand is being measured, by the inundation method, the tank will first be about two-fifths filled with water, or suificient to fill the interstices in a full measure of sand, and the sand then filled in through the screen so that it will sift into the water and settle to form a saturated mass, any surplus water flowing off over the lip 21. The position of the container with relation to the axis of the wheels of the bugg (when the container is in filling or vertical position) is one of substantial balance, so

may be blocked up by any I such as the board 28, when .the end cogson each wheel being fitting said runways with cogs on a portion of 7 their peripheries adapted to engage the holes, hooked to prevent the wheels leaving the runways at either end thereof.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name. J

\VILLIAM MAYO VENABLE.

that the buggy may be easily wheeled to the place of dumping. To dump the charge the workman merely raises the handle until the feet of the buggy rest on the ground, whereupon the container rolls forward, the screen 22 swinging out of the way (as shown in Fig. 3), and the material is discharged well forward of the buggy. Upon tipping the buggy back upon the feet 27, the empty container returns to loading position.

Obviously, accurate measurement of the materials handled may be made even by unskilled workmen, since the receptacle may first be properly adjusted as to volume, and simply filled level with the top at each charge. The spurs 15 alwaysinsure' proper positioning of the container on the track so that rocking of the buggy to the limits imposed by its feet 8 and 27 will always bring the container into proper dumping or filling position, re-

spectively. The stop means or upturned ends of the track prevent the rolling off of the condislodgement from the holes 16 in the track What I claim is 1. A material handling and transporting apparatus ineludingin comblnation a twowheeled buggy having a frame adapted to be tilted-about the axis of the wheels, said frame having a handle portion at one side of the axis of the wheels and a trackway projecting beyond said axis on the opposite side thereof, and a dumping container having curved supporting means adapted to rest upon the inner end of said trackway during normal or trans- 

